Spring jack for knitting machine needles



April 15, 1952 BUCKLE 2,592,787

SPRING JACK FOR KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLES Filed June 18, 1951 Z WZhwentor 6 B HER/IAN A (Sim/v.45.

(Ittorneg Patented Apr. 15, 1952 FFICE SPRING JACK FOR KNITTING MACHINENEEDLES Herman A. Blickle, Highland Park, N. J.

Application June 18, 1951, Serial No. 232,192

' 2 Claims. (01. 66-124) This invention relates to improvements in thejacks such as are used in flat plate or cylindrical type knittingmachines to control the movement of the needles.

The novel aspect of the invention resides particularly in the simple andeffective means by which a flat spring is mounted and anchored to thejack so that it will make frictional engagement with the inner surfaceor wall of the groove in which the jack and needle operate and therebyprevent any undesired displacement of the jack and its needle during theoperation of the knitting machine.

Jacks of this character commonly comprise an elongated body of flatmetallic stock having a recess formed in one face in which is secured afiat spring having a bowed portion protruding beyond the plane of theface so as to engage the side wall of the guide groove in which the jackmoves. The securing of this spring in the recess presents a problem towhich this invention particularly relates.

Customarily the spring has been secured in the recess by engagement ofthe side walls of the groove, for example, by upsetting the side wallsat spaced points over the fiat portion of the spring in the bottom ofthe recess. Also it has been proposed to leave an upstanding rivet inthe formation of the recess by which the spring is riveted in therecess. These expedients have not proved satisfactory, either because ofinsecurity of the attachment or because of the dif- -ficulty involved inthe formation of the article.

The present invention contemplates the attachment of the spring in itsrecess by means of 1? rivets the formation of which does not alter thesimple stamping operation by which the spring recess is formed in thejack. In accordance with the invention, the recess of uniform depth isformed in the usual way and thereafter the metal effective and easilyformed means for securing the spring.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings in whichFig. 1 is an isometric view on an enlarged scale of a jack embodying theinvention.

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of a portion of a sheet of fiat stock fromwhich the jacks are formed, with the outlines of jacks indicated bybroken lines.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central section on a larger scale of therecessed end of the jack body before the formation of the rivets, theplane of section being indicated by the line 6-6 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 3 but with the rivets formed.

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the spring applied to the unheadedrivets.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing the rivets headed over.

Fig. 7 is a transverse section through the jack and adjacent portion ofthe knitting machine on the plane of line 1----'! of Fig. 1 and on astill largor scale.

Except for the spring securing means the illustrated jack is of standardconstruction and needs no particular description. The jack bodies arestamped out of fiat sheet'stock in which they are laid out in reverseorder, as indicated in Fig. 2, for economy of metal. The recesses arecustomarily stamped in the stock in the proper locations prior to orcoincident with the stamping out of the jacks.

A completed jack is shown in Fig. 1 and includes the shank or main bodyportion I having its forward end shaped to engage the needle and anelongated recess 2 in one face or side at its butt end. This recess isof a uniform depth throughout which is equal to about half the thicknessof the stock. As is usual with jacks of this character, a fiat or leafspring 3 is secured at one end in the bottom of the recess and is bowedoutwardly for the rest of its length sufiiciently to bear against thewall of the groove and press the jack against the opposite groove wallas a guide in the reciprocation of the jack.

This is illustrated in Fig. 7 in which the spring 3 bears against thewall 4 of the guide groove and forces the jack l to maintain contactwith the opposite wall of the groove.

When the jack body is stamped out from the stock having the recess 2formed therein, it appears as shown in Fig. 3. Next it is placed on apunch press and subjected to the action of two punches which engage theside of the jack opposite the recess and enter the metal sufliciently toform the cavities 5 and displace the metal into the recess 2 in the formof two cylindrical rivets 6 the length of which is about equal to thedepth of the recess. The two rivets are preferably in the longitudinalaxis of the jack.

The fiat end of the spring 3 has two holes punched therein of a size anddisposition to fit upon the rivets 6 as shown in Fig. 5. The rivets arethen headed over as shown in Fig. 6, thereby securing the spring firmlyin the recess. Thus by very simple and easily formed means the spring issecurely mounted and restrained against rotational movement It will beapparent that the construction illustrated and above particularlydescribed is susceptible of modification within the scope of theinvention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A jack for use in knitting machines comprising a fiat body portionhaving an elongated recess of uniform depth in one side thereof, thebottom wall of the recess having a plurality of spaced portionsdisplaced into the recess from the other side of the jack andconstituting rivets upstanding from the bottom of the recess and opposedby cavities in the said other side resulting from the displacement ofsaid wall portions, and a. fiat spring in the recess having holesregistering with and entered by said rivets, the rivets being headedover so as to secure the spring against the recess bottom.

2. A jack as defined in claim 1 in which there are two rivets disposedin the central longitudinal axis of therecess.

HERMAN A. BLICKLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

15 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,940,520 Zimio Dec. 19, 19332,004,617 Roy June 11, 1935 2,024,911 Crawford Dec. 17, 1935 202,219,600 Potter Oct. 29, 1940

